Red and White
by TheInvisibleQuestion
Summary: The Doctor and Jenny attend Rose Tyler's wedding. Post-Journey's End. Fourth in my Pete's World series. Complete.
1. Prologue: Lonely Children

_****Cover Note:** **_Original TARDIS image property of BBC Wales, found via the Almight Google.__

_**Author's Note:** The Doctor Who sandbox is property of BBC Wales. This prologue takes place some time before the epilogue of _Rift_._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

_**lonely children**_

It's two o'clock in the afternoon. The Doctor, in his study, is searching for the photos he knows are in the house somewhere. He needs those photos; he needs something more than just the Rose he has in his mind, something to remind him that the Rose he knew was very much real, very much a part of his life.

His one heart beats too loudly in his chest.

Jenny, in her room, is staring at the glow in the dark constellations on her ceiling. They were Rose's idea. She had brought them home one day with the shopping, and the two of them spent the afternoon sticking them to the ceiling. Jenny still remembers exactly which stars Rose put up.

Her twin hearts beat much too loudly beneath the plastic stars.

The Doctor walks out of his study to search his bedroom as Jenny comes down the stairs. He sees the questions in her face, the hesitance, but also the loneliness.

He stops his search, just as he always does for her at times like this. He crouches in front of her. "What are you thinking about?"

"Rose," she says timidly.

He picks her up and she curls into him, laying her head on his chest. "Me too," he admits as he walks back into his study and takes a seat in the big armchair in the corner.

"Daddy?" she asks in a small voice.

"Yes, pumpkin?" The Doctor has never been terribly fond of pet names, but he catches himself using them occasionally; he attributes it to the general human tendency for such things.

"Danny at school says his mummy and daddy aren't his real mummy and daddy."

He isn't quite sure where she's going with this. "It's very possible his parents adopted him when he was younger."

"Like you did me?"

He begins to see the line of conversation. "Yes, something like that."

"Danny says his mummy and daddy love him as much as they love his big brother Benjamin, even though Benjamin isn't adopted." She bites her lip. "But I don't have a real mummy and daddy like Danny does."

"You have a very real father. Remember what I told you?"

Jenny nods. "But what about Rose?"

"What about her?"

"I thought—" she sniffles "—is Rose my mummy? Like Danny, not like Benjamin."

The Doctor blinks against the sudden prickling sensation in his eyes. He kisses his daughter's hair and gives her a reassuring squeeze. He doesn't want to tell her, but he will not lie to her about this. He shifts her so that she is sitting on his knees, looking straight at him. "What I'm going to tell you is very, very important. Rose loved you like you were her own. And you were, in many ways, but that Rose is gone. Another Rose is in her place, a new Rose. I think, given enough time, she will like you very much, but I don't think she will love you the way our Rose did."

Jenny nods solemnly. She curls up against her father again. "I wanted Rose to be my mummy, cause then I could be like Danny and have a Benjamin, except mine would probably be smaller than me."

The Doctor is not surprised at this confession, having wished it many times himself, not only with one heart, but also with two. Now, he realises, even three hearts together cannot wish hard enough. He thinks of the Doctor, the Time Lord victorious, alone in his universe save for the brief camaraderie of a few brave humans, and he counts himself lucky. He may not have Rose, but he has Jenny, and together they will at least survive: two lonely children in an unfamiliar world.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** I seem to have neglected, in past stories, to include the usual statement proclaiming I am merely playing in a sandbox owned by BBC Wales. But then, I shouldn't have to disclaim anything, seeing as your browser's address bar clearly states you are browsing a fanfiction website._

_I must thank my beta and editor for taking time out of her busy schedule to proofread this and make sure it's not entirely stupid._

_This story is shaping up to be shorter than the others, but it should tie up some loose ends for those of you who wish to stand me up in front of a firing squad for how I ended _Rift_. I may be taking my hiatus before instalment number five, rather than afterward as I had planned, but I promise I'll finish this story before I take my leave._


	2. Chapter 1: Bricks and Stones

**Chapter 1**

_**bricks and stones**_

The TARDIS is different now, but still very much the same, like the Doctor himself is different and the same. She is still a police box from the 1950s, but she is a very lovely shade of red that is, as close as he can match, the colour of new bricks.

This TARDIS is not his TARDIS. She lets him pilot her, but he knows that the heart of the TARDIS belongs to a tiny Gallifreyan child who, with training, might pass for a Time Lady. Of course, he can't say that the child hasn't stolen his heart as well.

The corridors of the ship are, surprisingly, very similar to the ones he remembers. His quarters are in the same place, though they are not furnished as they used to be; the many things he acquired during his travels no longer adorn his walls and his shelves. Even Rose's room is still there, dressed in pink, but it lacks those things she left behind, the things that made the room truly hers.

Jenny's quarters are secluded in a secret corridor just off of the main console room, behind a door that the Doctor is fairly sure never stays in quite the same place. She spends a great deal of time there, and her father expects he would, if he were invited in, find her quarters to be much like his, with a small sleeping place crammed into a corner and the rest of the space overtaken by various projects of her devising and souvenirs of their travels.

She has been asking about Rose lately, pressing him to explain exactly how the Bad Wolf took away their Rose. They have spent three days in the Vortex, Jenny wandering the TARDIS corridors and searching for an answer through her innate Time Lord connection with the Vortex.

He sits in the kitchen with a cup of tea and a sandwich. There's another sandwich on the table for Jenny, part of what has quickly become their "off day" ritual: if they aren't busy saving civilisations (and so many of them need saving), they eat lunch together in the kitchen and discuss everything from alpha-particulate demistars to Zendrian biology. In the last three days, he has answered a myriad questions that relate in some way to Rose. He expects today to be no different.

Jenny does not look happy when she walks into the kitchen, nor does she look morose: she looks angry. She doesn't speak to her father, and when he greets her, she ignores him. She also ignores the sandwich he made for her, picking a banana out of the fruit basket on the kitchen counter.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

She ignores him.

"If you're going to ignore me, at least do me the courtesy of telling me why you're doing it."

She flashes a glare of little Time Lord fire.

"You said it was the Time Vortex that took away Rose."

"That's true."

"But it's NOT true!" Jenny protests.

"Why not?"

"Cause she's still there! The Vortex didn't take away Rose because Dr. Montgomery and Jake and Ivan and Pete and Tony and Jackie and me and you and everybody remembers her."

"And you think that means the Vortex didn't take Rose away?"

"The Vortex doesn't work like that," Jenny states. "It was something else."

The Doctor doesn't meet his daughter's eyes.

She sounds so much more grown up, so much more Time Lord when she says, "You know what took her away. Why won't you tell me?"

He stares at his hands, folded in front of him on the table, for a long time. Finally, he looks up at her. "When I first met Rose, I looked different than I do now. I had big ears and a big nose. We went to this place where there were a lot of bad things happening, so I sent her away in the TARDIS. I sent her back home to Jackie, but somehow she looked into the heart of the TARDIS, right into the Vortex, and she came back and saved me. It was going to kill her, so I did exactly what you did: I took away the Vortex and I put it back into the TARDIS. I had to regenerate, just like you did, and I ended up looking like I do now."

"And Rose forgot?"

"She only forgot about looking into the TARDIS."

"But why did she forget now?"

"I told you once, when we first started flying, that there were some things I didn't want you to try until I was certain you understood how they worked, because if you didn't do them right, there was a good chance we'd both end up as space dust. That's what happened with Rose. You saved her life, and I'm very glad for it, but you never learned the proper way to do what you did. I never taught you how to go into someone else's mind and protect them from bad things."

Jenny doesn't look frightened or angry with herself as he expected. She looks a bit confused, but under the confusion, he can see the gears turning in her little mind. "I took Rose away," she says quietly. "But if I took her away, then I can bring her back."

"No," he says. "It's too dangerous."

"But—"

"It's not up for discussion."

The tantrum that ensues lasts for four solid hours and does not sway the Doctor one bit.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** Cookies and thanks to EnoughToTemptMe for all her beta awesomeness (despite having like a million essays and homeworks and things)._

_We're looking at about six or seven chapters total (including prologue and possible epilogue), five of which I've already written. But I'll be posting them one at a time, mostly because they're just first drafts and need work but also partly because I enjoy torturing readers almost as much as I enjoy torturing characters._

_I'm kidding, I'm kidding._

_But seriously._


	3. Chapter 2: Dwarf Stars

**Chapter 2**

_**dwarf stars**_

Rose sits cross-legged on the floor of her room. Tonight is the last night she will be living with her parents, and she is busy packing the rest of her things. Three boxes sit against one wall, full of things she's sending to charity. Most of the things in the boxes are from her old life, things she doesn't remember owning or using. She's kept a few things, though most of them are a mystery to her: a gold-foil sun on a bit of fishing line, a chain of paper stars, a story book bound in brown with circles on the cover, a silver key on a ball-bearing chain, a never-worn shirt with a union jack splashed across the front; every time she looks at it, she feels an inexplicable urge to laugh. They all rest in a white wooden box with a rose carved in the top. The objects in the box make no sense to her, together or apart, but she can't bring herself to get rid of them. She thinks the book should give her the most information, but she's read it twice in the last year and it's just a book of stories, fanciful tales of adventure and aliens. She supposes it must have been a gift; judging by some of the other things her mother gave her from her old life, she was very much a fan of those sorts of things.

She tosses a red blouse into one of the charity boxes. It was one of the first shirts she wore back to her job at Vitex, where she met Noah, but the shirt holds almost no sentimental value. She wonders how a chain of paper stars holds more sentimental value for her than the blouse she wore the day she first met her husband-to-be.

She shakes her head as if to clear it just as her mother walks in with a cup of tea. "Thought you might like a cuppa," Jackie says, looking around the almost-bare room. "Looks like you're near done."

Rose takes the cup, sipping the hot tea. "Thanks. Just got to finish going through my clothes, that's all."

Jackie picks up the chain of paper stars. "You kept this?" she asks. Rose thinks she sounds a bit disbelieving.

Rose shrugs. "It's pretty. Never know when you'll need a star or twenty. And before you ask, Mum, no, I don't know why I kept it. I just felt like... I dunno. I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Noah'll probably think I'm daft." She laughs. "I still can't believe I'm getting married. I mean, _me_."

"Don't you dare get cold feet on me," Jackie warns.

Rose smirks. "Don't worry, Mum. All the work you did? I'm not going to be the one to make a mess of it."

Jackie notices the blouse on top of the open charity box. "Is that your red blouse? The one you wore your first day back at the office."

Rose looks at it and shrugs. "It's out of date."

"That's the shirt Noah spilled his tea on, isn't it? That's how you met."

"I'll have more memorable shirts later, Mum. Besides, I've got a picture of it somewhere, I'm sure."

Jackie nods. Rose notices her gaze stop on the union-jack tee that's sitting on top of the box of things Rose doesn't remember. "Right. I'll let you get back to it, then." Jackie puts the paper star chain back and takes her leave.

* * *

><p>"No," the Doctor says, before Jenny can even ask. He's just narrowly escaped a ten-year prison sentence for disrupting a coronation ceremony—apparently it didn't matter if he proved the crown prince was an impostor.<p>

"But Daddy, I was really good! I stayed out of trouble just like you told me to, and _you_ got in really _big_ trouble."

"Yes. You did very well. We're still not going to London."

"Why not?" Jenny whines.

"For the umpteenth time, Jenny, you can't fix Rose. She is _gone_ and if you try to bring her back, there is a very good chance you'll kill her."

"But I won't! I know how to do it now!"

"It's too dangerous. I'm not discussing it."

Jenny glares at him, then disappears behind one of the columns and into her room.

A couple of minutes go by. The Doctor shucks his jacket and tosses it over the railing. He sits in the jumpseat and stares blankly. He's about to drop into a serious thinking-session when the phone rings. He sighs; only two people know how to phone the TARDIS, and both of them are on Earth, the one place in the universe he's been avoiding rather well. The phone continues to ring. He answers it reluctantly. "Hello?"

"Didn't think you'd pick up," Jackie says on the other end.

"You and Pete are the only ones who know how to ring this phone at the moment."

"Right."

There's a short pause before the Doctor says, "So."

"Rose is getting married," Jackie says quickly. Her voice is falsely cheery.

"I know," he replies quietly. He'd hoped to forget the fact, to move on without having to acknowledge it. His right hand fists, his nails digging painfully into the scar on his palm.

"You're invited," Jackie tells him.

"I can't."

"Jenny, too."

"Jackie—"

"At least drop in for a minute or two before."

"I don't know if I can."

"Tony's been asking after you two."

"I'm not sure I'm ready to die just yet, Jackie." It's a weak attempt at a joke, and he knows it's in terrible taste, but he can't resist.

"Has it ever occurred to you that this is hard for me and Pete, too?" Jackie snaps. "Do you know how many times we've had to talk with Tony? I'm still not sure he gets it."

"He's a clever boy," the Doctor reminds her. "He understands, even if he doesn't let on."

"I'm starting to think it wasn't the best idea."

"She's happy, isn't she?" He runs his free hand through his hair, tugging at the roots just enough to hurt. "That's what matters."

"And you?"

He ignores the question, jamming his hand into his pocket. "When's the wedding?"

There's a longer pause, then a quiet. "First of January at Grosvenor House."

The phone is slipping from his grip. "I'll let you know," he manages before he drops the phone back into the cradle and collapses onto the floor, overwhelmed. His hands shake, and he nearly drops the small object in his right hand. It's a plain silver band, the traditional human symbol of an engagement which he'd given to Rose a year ago and which he keeps in his pocket. Jackie and Pete had given it back to him when they realised Rose's condition was more or less permanent. Tears leave trails down his face as he looks at it, remembering how sure he was of himself, how sure he was of _them_, the Doctor and Rose Tyler and Jenny. He pockets the ring again and stands up, wiping his face with a hand.

He sets the controls for suspension in the Vortex and walks the corridors of the TARDIS, wishing it were possible for him to get lost, utterly and hopelessly lost.

_First of January_. He should have known she'd pick that date.

She had, after all, fallen in love—and love it was, painful as it was for this forgotten man to admit—with a square-jawed, messy-haired young brainiac. Noah Davenport is the number one junior executive for Vitex Industries, head of the research and development department and candidate for a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge. Under different circumstances, the Doctor is fairly sure he and Noah would have got on quite swimmingly. As it is, Noah Davenport is going to be standing at the altar with Rose Tyler on a day the Doctor should, by all rights, be taking her out for a first-wedding-anniversary dinner.

He can't watch Rose marry another man, but he knows he won't be able to resist. She invited him, and he is powerless against the wishes of Rose Tyler.

* * *

><p>"Jenny," he calls as he walks into the console room. He has showered, fixed his hair, and shaved. He straightens the collar of his white shirt and smooths the lapels on his navy-blue suit.<p>

Jenny frowns at him. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"I want to come."

"No."

"Why not?" Jenny whines.

"I'll only be gone an hour or so."

"I want to come!" she shouts.

"First of all, you've got a terrible attitude problem, young lady. Second, I already said you're not coming."

Jenny glares.

The Doctor is unmoved. He takes his sonic screwdriver out of his coat and puts it in his suit pocket, just in case. "I'm taking my mobile. You can call if you absolutely need me, but don't call unless it's an emergency."

He sees her eye the console.

"No, don't even think about it. I've deadlocked the ignition." He's learnt his lesson from previous outings of his: only a deadlock seal will keep Jenny from trying to pilot the TARDIS by herself and leave him behind. "I'll be back soon. Try not to burn the kitchen down this time."

Jenny doesn't say a word. She watches him go, her face pulled together in a scowl. The door clicks shut behind him, and she sprints to the wardrobe. He's not leaving her behind this time.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** The end of this chapter got a serious overhaul, thanks mostly to my luvverly beta, but thanks also in part to scgirl-317's comment about "battening down the hatches"._

_I'd like to personally thank each and every one of you who has sent me warning messages. It's nice to know you're concerned for my health._


	4. Chapter 3: Petals

**Chapter 3**

_**petals**_

The grandfather clock in the foyer chimes two, and Rose grins. She sits on the couch in a small room off of the hotel foyer, staring at the wall and tapping her foot. The last four hours have been spent with beauticians and groomers and photographers, which means Rose has less than one hour left to wait until her wedding.

Footsteps from the foyer call Rose's attention away from the wallpaper. Dr. John Smith walks in and sits in the armchair across from her.

"Hello, Dr. Smith," Rose greets.

"Thought you might want some company."

She is saved from having to come up with a reply by the sudden appearance of her brother, Tony, whose hair has been coaxed away from its usual mess to lie flat.

"Doctor!" Tony squeals, attacking the man's leg. Dr. Smith has long been one of Tony's favourite people, and Rose is amused by Tony's assertions that the man is _the_ Doctor, as though no one else in the world is worthy of the title.

Dr. Smith's daughter, Genevieve, peeks around the doorway.

"Hello, Genevieve," Rose calls, smiling. The little girl's eyes widen and she ducks out of sight. Dr. Smith turns toward the doorway, his wrestling match with Tony forgotten.

"Excuse me a moment," he says. He stands up and walks out into the foyer. Jenny is nowhere in sight, but he knows she's only hiding. "Genevieve Marion Smith, if I have to search for you, you'll be in far more trouble than you already are."

A head of red hair peeks out from behind a long curtain. The Doctor gives her a stern look and points to the floor in front of him. She walks out, stomping her feet. He sees that she's dressed for the occasion in a dark blue, long sleeved dress with white tights and black shoes. She stops in front of him and folds her arms across her chest.

"You messed about with the lock on the door again, didn't you?" he asks.

She ignores his question. "You said we weren't going to London."

"I should have deadlocked the door, too. Are you going to be this ornery all the time?"

"You were going to see Rose without me!"

"Go back to the TARDIS."

"No."

"Jenny," he warns.

"No!" She stamps her foot. "I want to see Rose!"

"You don't need to yell."

She repeats herself louder.

"Is everything okay?" Rose asks from the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I think our visit will have to be cut short."

"No!" Jenny shrieks.

"You're leaving?" Rose asks.

"Yes," the Doctor answers, at the same time Jenny gives another vehement "no". The Doctor sighs. "Will you excuse us just a few more minutes?" He picks Jenny up and takes her outside.

"Let me go!" she shouts. She's about to go into a full-blown fit, and he is not prepared to deal with a true Gallifreyan tantrum in the middle of a busy London street. He sets her down, hoping to calm her enough to postpone, if not prevent, such a tantrum.

"Listen to me. You cannot throw a fit in front of Rose."

"I want to see Rose!" she yells. Her face is nearly as red as her hair, and the Doctor knows the tears are next.

"Stop this racket, or we're leaving right now."

Jenny narrows her eyes at him, but quiets.

He crouches down to her level. "Now, you need to go inside and apologise to Rose for making such a fuss."

"Why?"

"Because it's polite, and because Rose does not deserve to witness you making a big fuss."

"She's not Rose."

He arches his brow. "She _is_ Rose, and you _will_ apologise."

Jenny pouts for half a dozen seconds before she humphs an agreement.

"You will apologise," he repeats, "and then you will go back to the TARDIS and wait for me."

"How come I don't get to stay?"

"You had a fit in the middle of the foyer. You're not staying."

"I promise I'll be really good!"

The Doctor gives her a stern look, but she counters by clasping her hands under her chin and giving him her biggest, saddest puppy-dog eyes.

"You're already up to your ears in trouble. If you make any more fuss _at all_, you'll be grounded till you're ninety."

"I can stay?"

"Only if you apologise and you leave when I tell you it's time to go. No fuss, no fits."

Jenny pastes on her best smile. "Okay." She walks back to the sitting room where Rose is waiting. Tony has disappeared.

"Rose?" Jenny asks shyly, half-hidden behind the door frame.

"Hello again, Genevieve."

Jenny looks back at Dr. Smith, who nods encouragingly. Jenny goes to stand at Rose's knees. "I'm sorry for throwing a fit and yelling," she mumbles, staring at her feet.

"Apology accepted. Are you feeling better?" Rose asks, taking both of the girl's hands in one of her own.

Jenny nods and puts one hand on top of Rose's. Rose lifts Jenny's chin with her free hand, giving the girl a smile.

Jenny smiles, meeting Rose's eyes. In the half-second before Jenny lets go of Rose's hands, Rose feels strangely light-headed. Some part of her mind reminds her that she hasn't eaten hardly anything all day. An afterimage of the girl's eyes, flecked with tiny bits of gold, burns in Rose's memory.

"How are you?" asks Dr. Smith, pulling Rose back into reality. It feels odd that he should be the one to anchor her to reality.

"Nervous. Excited. Overwhelmed," she replies. She notices that he looks a little melancholy for a wedding. "You?"

He smiles, all traces of melancholia vanishing from his face. "I'm fine. You look beautiful."

"Thank you. Are you sure you're okay? You look a little green."

"Must have eaten a bad banana at breakfast," he says, shrugging it off. "Noah's a lucky man."

Rose blushes. "I'm a lucky girl. Have you seen him today?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Saw him earlier."

"How is he?"

"He's fine. Worried he's going to do something stupid?"

"No, I'm more worried he'll forget his shoes or his tie. He's kind of absentminded sometimes."

"I think your mother knows him well enough by now to know to double check that he's got everything. Besides, he's probably nervous enough to remember everything he'd normally forget."

Rose nods and they lapse into silence. Rose can hear the photographer's commands from the room next door, and above that, the hum of the arriving guests' chatter. A few minutes later, Dr. Smith clears his throat and says, "I should go take my seat."

"Okay." Dr. Smith nods to her and turns to leave, but when he reaches the edge of the room, Rose says, "Doctor?"

He turns quickly and looks at her. "Yes?"

There is something in his expression that is so familiar, but Rose brushes it off with a smile and says, "Thanks for keeping me company."

A hint of his previous melancholia returns, and his return smile looks a little false. "Any time."

Ten minutes pass before Pete comes to take Rose out to the ceremony. She cannot shake the odd feeling, the little nagging sensation in the back of her mind that tells her something isn't right. As her father walks in, she sees an image of him lying on the asphalt, and then it's gone. And yet it isn't gone. It's still there, a memory in her mind, filed next to walks in the park and trips to the Chinese place that's open till two.

"_Remember when Dad died? There was someone with him. A girl. A blond girl. She held his hand. You saw her from a distance, Mum. You saw her! Think about it! That was me. You saw _me_."_

"Are you okay, love?" her father asks, taking her hand. She is on her feet; she must have stood up in surprise at the memory of him dead.

"Yeah," she says, nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine." She wonders how her father is standing in front of her if he was killed by a car when she was just a baby. Rose's eyes widen as he looks away from her.

"Let's go, then, before your mum has both our heads."

"_Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is _a_ Pete."_

She takes his arm hesitantly and they walk to the door. Rose hears the shuffle of people taking their seats. She remembers coming to this place with someone else, but it was empty then; they were just looking into it at her mother's insistence.

"_Are you kidding me? It's way too big!" Rose laughed._

"_You'd come in from right here," said her fiancé, draping his arm around her. "And everyone will stand up and gawk at how blindingly gorgeous you are—"_

_Rose laughed again. "No way. I just spent five hours convincing my mum away from seven tiers on the cake. We're not renting the Grosvenor ballroom."_

"_But there's so much room to—"_

"Rose, we're next."

Her father is tugging gently on her arm. "Right. Yeah. I know." She blinks, trying to clear her head, but she feels as though she's waking up from a dream. Everything moves so slowly around her, but inside, her life races past her.

She and her father step up to the door.

"_It's perfect. A shed in the back and everything."_

"_And a little fence in the front," she added._

"_Just take a look and tell me what you think." He opened the door._

_She didn't even have to see the entire house to know she loved it. "You're right," she said as they walked out onto the back porch. "It's perfect."_

The music plays as Rose walks slowly, keeping pace with the flower girl in front of her. She makes herself put one foot in front of the other, trying to ignore the dizzy feeling in her head.

"_Jenny will have to be the flower girl, you know," she said, wiggling her newly-ringed finger._

"_And Tony the ring bearer," he added._

"_Wouldn't have it any other way." She looked up—_

One of the rose petals gets caught in her shoe, worming its way beneath her toes. She tries not to look uncomfortable as the cameras flash in her face.

"_I bet if we asked, Myra from Botany would grow us blue roses."_

"_Or we could just use white ones."_

"_Nah. White's boring. Everyone does white. Besides, you'll be in white, won't you?"_

Noah stands beneath the white arch. The red in the climbing roses sets off his tuxedo and his goofy grin. It should make her want to giggle, but something looks wrong.

"_Oh, the look on his face when he sees you in that dress." Jackie said that every time Rose walked out of the dressing room._

"_What do you think?" Rose asked, twirling._

"_It's beautiful, of course."_

"_I love it!" squeaked Jenny. "Get that one, Rose." The little blond said the same thing about every dress. This wasn't really helping the decision-making process._

Rose looks around at all the people standing around her. She doesn't know most of them; they've been invited as a formality. A little redhead girl watches her intently, the same girl who half an hour before was apologising for a tantrum, a girl who can change her face like the Doctor.

"_Time Lords have this little trick. It's sort of a way of cheating death. Except—it means I'm gonna change. And I'm not gonna see you again, not like this, not with this daft old face. And before I go—"_

"_Don't say that!"_

"_Rose. Before I go, I just want to tell you you were fantastic." He looked scared now. "Absolutely fantastic. And d'you know what? So was I."_

_The joke made Rose smile in spite of herself. She reached her hand out to touch him, to tell him it was going to be okay, but he just exploded into light—golden, beautiful, fantastic light._

She stands in front of the crowd now, holding hands with Noah. The guests sit and the minister opens a book bound in brown with no marks on the cover.

"_You wrote me a book for Christmas."_

"_Well, I wrote you a book. Didn't think it would be finished so soon."_

"Rose," Noah whispers. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"I'm fine," she says distantly. She blinks, trying to clear away the feeling of dreaming. She holds Noah's hand a little tighter, and he squeezes her hand in return.

"_Handfasting, it's called. Time Lords did it, back in the day. Well, all of Gallifrey did handfastings. A marriage wasn't complete and legal until the handfasting was done."_

"_It sounds complicated."_

"_It was. But then, Time Lord customs usually are."_

"Beloved friends and family," begins the minister, "we are gathered here today—"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Noah murmurs worriedly as the minister drones.

"I'm fine," Rose insists. "There's just a lot of people here."

Noah stifles a laugh. "You love a good crowd, Rosie. Don't tell me you're getting stage fright _now_."

Rose doesn't know why she ever let Noah call her Rosie. Even Jackie in her most drunken state never called Rose Tyler "Rosie".

"_How d'you think you look to them, all... pink and yellow." He pointed to an empty stretch of wall. "There's where I'd put the shop. Right there."_

"Do you, Noah Alexander Davenport—" the minister says in his slow, measured voice. Rose fights an urge to tap her foot impatiently.

_To my pink and yellow human, for whom I would cross a thousand universes._

Rose glances away from Noah into the audience. Hundreds pairs of eyes are watching the ceremony, but only one pair is fixed on her.

"_On your own?"_

"_Why? Don't you want to come?"_

"_Well—yeah."_

"_Do you, though?"_

"_Yeah."_

"Do you, Rose Marion Tyler—"

The mention of her name snaps Rose's attention to the minister. "Sorry?" she says aloud before she remembers where she is.

The minister gives her a quizzical look, but continues. "Do you, Rose Marion Tyler, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"_I want to give her your middle name," he said abruptly._

"_Marion?"_

"_Yes. Genevieve Marion Smith. What do you think?"_

Rose stares at Noah, not seeing him, but seeing a taller, lankier man with messier hair and browner eyes, a man with whom she travelled through time and space, not just to Paris and Vienna.

"I—"

"Rose?" Noah prompts. He looks more than a bit worried.

Rose looks to her mother. Jackie Tyler looks stricken, as if she's been wishing for something like this but never expected it to actually happen.

"Miss Tyler," the minister says, reminding her of where they are standing. At the altar.

"First of January," is all Rose can say.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rose?" Noah asks. The guests murmur and whisper among themselves.

"No..." Rose searches for that man, that wonderful, impossible man, but he has disappeared.

_A strange man with big ears took her hand, and in one word, turned her world upside down: "Run."_

Her feet carry her out of the ballroom, remembering their years of running.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Mischief managed._


	5. Chapter 4: Silver

**Chapter 4**

_**silver**_

Rose runs into the foyer, but the Doctor is nowhere to be seen. She hears Noah following her.

"Rose!" Noah calls after her. "Rose, are you okay?"

"No. I—I'm sorry, Noah." She reminds herself that her lungs need air.

"There's still time. What's going on?"

Rose wipes her cheeks with a hand, grateful the makeup team had the foresight to give her waterproof mascara. "Do you remember when I told you there were some things I couldn't remember?"

"Yeah." He asked her once which grammar school she'd gone to and she had to ask Jackie. "Your parents said you'd gotten a bad fever once and it wiped out a lot of your memory."

Rose blinks, trying to keep the tears back. "It—it's not entirely true. A year ago, I got... kidnapped, I think, and when I was rescued, I passed out, and when I came to a couple days later, I didn't have any memory of my life. All twenty-some years of my life, wiped out."

"Rose, it's okay," Noah says, pulling a tissue out of his jacket and giving it to her. "You're okay now, that's all that matters."

Rose forces herself to inhale and then exhale. "I can't—" She covers her mouth with a hand and tries to stifle a sob.

Noah guides her to one of the benches along the wall. "Breathe," he instructs, rubbing her back. "In, out."

Rose takes a few shaky breaths and tries to calm herself down, but every time she looks at Noah, she sees everything that's gone so horribly, horribly wrong in the last year. "I can't do this," she manages to say.

"Yes, you can. Just calm down first."

Rose closes her eyes and tries to stop her chest heaving so dramatically. "I can't—" She doesn't even want to say it. "I can't marry you." She's amazed at how calm she sounds, though her syllables are short and choppy.

Noah's hand on her back stops. "What are you talking about?"

"I remember," she tells him. "Everything. My whole life... I remember—" It hits her like a brick wall, the tightness in her throat, the tears in her eyes, and the weight on her chest, pulling her heart into her stomach.

"Okay," Noah says uncertainly. "Just take a few minutes to breathe. I'm here, Rose, I'm always here."

"No," she says, trying to wipe away the tears that won't stop flowing. "No, I can't—Noah, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Noah takes her hand and rubs circles on the back with his thumb. "I don't understand, Rose. You're going to have to help me out a bit."

Rose's breathing is shaky at best, but it's starting to return to a normal pace. "There was a man," she starts slowly, taking measured breaths to prevent herself from hyperventilating. "We travelled." Another pause for breath. "We came here—" She can feel her throat tightening again, but she swallows against it and continues. "We were going to—we were engaged."

She looks at Noah and the confusion in his face makes her almost lose the composure she's worked so hard to grasp again.

"I'm sorry," she repeats. "If I'd known—"

"You couldn't have known," he says, his expression darkening as he understands what she's been trying to say.

"I loved you, Noah. I still do, but—"

"I don't doubt it," he interrupts. "But I can't compete with whoever your other man is." He stands, his hands fisting at his sides. He's turned away from Rose so she can't see his face. "And who am I kidding?" His voice is rough, and he takes a deep breath before he continues. "You're not the same girl I fell in love with. Hell, you even _walk_ different."

"She's still here," Rose defends.

"Yeah, but so are you, and you've got to go back to living Rose Tyler's life." When he turns back to her, his eyes are red-rimmed and glossy. "I wish we could have done this, but you're not my Rosie." He takes her hand and kisses it. "Goodbye, Rose Tyler," he says roughly. "Maybe we'll meet again. Maybe not." He turns on his heel and walks out the front doors of the hotel.

"Noah!" Rose cries, jumping up and running after him. He doesn't turn or acknowledge her, and when she reaches the front steps of the hotel, he's disappeared among the cars. She stands on the cement steps for a moment, the world reeling beneath her feet. She feels as though she's going to be sick.

"Rose!" Jackie exclaims behind her. "Rose, where's Noah?"

Rose stares at the passing cars. "He's gone," she breathes. She hadn't wanted to end things with Noah like she did.

"What happened?" Jackie asks.

"I told him I couldn't marry him," Rose replies tonelessly.

"You _what_?" Jackie demands. "Why not?"

"Because he's not the Doctor." A couple of seconds pass before the tightness and the weight and the tears return and Rose is sobbing again. Her mother leads her inside and sits her back down on the bench.

Pete comes out of the ballroom a few minutes later, flustered. "Jackie!" he calls. "The guests are getting impatient."

"Tell them we're having a New Year's party," Jackie answers.

Pete raises an eyebrow in Jackie's direction. Jackie just nods. "New Year's party it is," he says, and disappears.

"Come on, love," Jackie says to Rose. "Let's get you somewhere safe away from the cameras and the crowd, yeah?"

Rose lets her mother put her in the Vitex limousine and take her to the Tyler Estate.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Any part of this that sounds like great writing is as such because of my fantastically amazing beta, EnoughToTemptMe, who is amazing and fantastic. Maybe someday I'll learn from all the things she has to tell me to correct. I don't know where I'd be without her. (Actually, I do know. I'd be a total hack with no skill whatsoever.)_

_Also, you all get an extra chapter before the epilogue!_


	6. Chapter 5: Gold

**Chapter 5**

_**gold**_

"Why are we leaving?" Jenny asks. She's wearing her very best pouting face. The tears are next.

The Doctor doesn't answer. The way Rose had looked at him—he couldn't have stayed after that if he'd wanted to. There's no way she could have remembered; he's sure he invented the look of recognition she'd given him. He had to get away from the wedding before he did something colossally stupid.

"I wanna go back!" Jenny shouts. Big, fat crocodile tears roll down her face. She runs toward the console, but the Doctor stops her and picks her up with one arm. She twists and wriggles as he walks around the controls, setting them for suspension in the Vortex. She kicks her legs, her knee hitting his hip repeatedly—she's not using her full Time Lord strength, but she is definitely making her point—and he's about to drop her when the phone rings, cutting through her screaming and rendering everything still and silent.

The phone rings again.

Jenny jumps out of the Doctor's hold as he grabs the phone.

"Hello?" he answers.

"IF YOU ARE NOT HERE IN FIVE MINUTES, THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY." Jackie's explosive bellow forces him to hold the phone at arm's length.

"Jackie, what are you talking about?"

"Tyler Estate, London, England. Five minutes!" Jackie hangs up.

He knows he could hide in the Vortex for the rest of his life, and Jackie Tyler would never touch him, but she has expertly played his curiosity, and he must know what's going on.

The familiar _vworp-vworp_ heralds their arrival, and the Doctor runs to the door, leaping down the steps and flinging the door open. Jackie is marching across the grass, holding a wooden spoon. Jenny sprints past her and disappears into the house.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jackie screeches. "I said five minutes!"

"How long have I been?" he asks, acutely aware that the TARDIS does not _always_ land when he tells her to.

"Seven and a half minutes!"

He breathes a sigh of relief, but it's cut off by a smack on the arm from Jackie's spoon. "Ow!" He tries to back away, but Jackie follows him, smacking him a few more times with the spoon. "Jackie, what—ow! What did I do?"

Jackie raises her spoon threateningly. "Oh, don't act like you don't know."

"I'm not acting! I really don't know."

"Rubbish! What'd you think you could run off like that for?"

"Jackie!" he snaps with such ferocity that she lowers her spoon.

She narrows her eyes at him, then points the spoon at his face. "Rose is in her room. You go fix this, or so help me, I will beat you senseless with this spoon."

Fix _what_? he wonders as he hurries past the madwoman with the wooden spoon and goes inside. Rose's bedroom door is open and she is sitting on the bed; Jenny sits on her lap, little arms wrapped around Rose's waist. The Doctor knocks lightly on the doorjamb.

Rose gives Jenny a hug and says quietly, "Will you give your dad and me a few minutes?"

Jenny nods and jumps off Rose's lap. As she passes her father, she gives him a look that, when she is older, might burn worlds. He is clearly not forgiven.

"Finally decided to show up, did you?" Rose says. "It's about time."

"Sorry?" he asks, turning his attention back to her.

She gets up and comes to meet him in the doorway. Her eyes are full of anger and fire and _Rose_. She slaps him across the face.

He rubs his jaw, more to hide the euphoric grin he's trying to stifle than to soothe the sting. "Ouch. I'm guessing I deserved that?"

"Damn right you did."

"Am I allowed to know why? And—" He throws up a hand defensively. "And before you ask, I _really_ don't know what's going on. Other than, apparently, it's coming back to you now."

"You were going to let me get _married_!" she shrieks. "I lose my memory and you just _let_ me go? How could you?"

"You think I _wanted_ you to get married?" he asks in disbelief.

"You sure as hell didn't stop it!"

"What do you want me to say, Rose? That I'd rather see you miserable because I should be the one up on the altar, but I can't ever say anything because if you remembered, it might kill you?"

"You'd rather see me get married to someone else? How long were you going to let it be like this? How long were you going to let me live without knowing who I was?"

"I don't know," he says quietly.

Rose takes a step back, horror splashed across her face. "You would have let me live my entire life as someone else."

"At least you would have _lived_!" he counters defensively.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ that when Jenny saved you from the Time Vortex, she did it wrong and it wiped your memory." He stares at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Rose. "It means that you lived, even though I couldn't ever tell you how."

Rose sits on her bed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you'd forgotten, and that was _good_. You weren't meant to even glimpse the Vortex once, and it ran through your head _twice_. You forgot, and that forgetting saved your life. If it meant you forgot me, I was willing to live with that." He shrugs.

"And you didn't think that maybe you'd try to make friends with me again?"

"I wanted you to make your own decisions. That, and it would have been too risky."

Rose raises an eyebrow. "Too risky."

"Yes. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I woke up one morning to find you'd burned because of something I'd done or said. I just—" He stops, looking away from her to compose himself again. "I wanted you to be happy," he says roughly.

"I never would have been."

"You were," he says immediately.

"No, I wasn't. I thought I was, but sooner or later it would have felt wrong."

The Doctor takes a seat on the edge of the bed next to Rose. He stares at his hands in his lap, but doesn't say anything.

"I still remember it," she says quietly after a few minutes. "The past year. All the dates with Noah, all the days I went to work, everything." She stops, gnawing on her bottom lip. "I ruined his wedding."

"It wasn't your fault."

"It was _all_ my fault," she parries.

He shakes his head. "Don't play the martyr. Nobody's at fault."

"You don't hate me?" she asks quietly.

"For what?"

"For falling in love with someone else."

"How could I? If anything, I would think _you_ would hate _me_ for being such a complete arse."

"I don't hate you. 'M just mad. Sort of. You were gonna leave," she says dejectedly.

"Misunderstanding." He shrugs. "I thought—well, it doesn't really matter. I went to the wedding because I thought I could handle it, and apparently I'm just still too hopelessly in love with you to watch you get married."

"Almost married," Rose corrects. "So what now?"

The Doctor shrugs. "It's up to you," he says. "Rose Tyler, heiress of Vitex—you might be a chips-and-telly girl now."

Rose gives him a look that flatly refutes such a claim. "I am _not_ a chips-and-telly girl," she tells him.

"What kind of girl are you?"

Rose doesn't respond immediately. When she does, it's not the answer he was expecting. "Tomorrow, I might be Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth, but today, I want to be Rose Tyler, heiress of a large, fluffy comforter and defender of my pillow."

He nods. "Do you want me to stay?"

"You'd leave?" She looks alarmed, and he realises they've misunderstood each other again: she think he's talking about him leaving in the TARDIS.

"Yes—no—I mean, if you want—" He stops and takes a breath. "Do you want me to stay here with you, or would you rather I stay in the guest room?"

Rose studies his face but finds no pressure on her either way. "I... I don't know. It's just so soon—I mean, I don't—but I—" She runs her hands through her hair, ducking behind her arms momentarily to collect herself. She reminds herself that breathing is a necessity. "If I need you..." she begins.

"I'll be in the guest room."

Rose nods. "Thank you. I just... I need time to readjust."

"I understand," he says, remembering the days he spent hiding from the Family. He kisses her cheek. "You know where I am if you need me." He leaves, closing the door behind him.

Rose walks to her closet, where the boxes of her things are stacked against the walls. She takes the white wooden box from the top of one stack and opens it, taking out the silver TARDIS key. She wonders if it will work with the new TARDIS. She removes the other objects one by one. The chain of paper stars and the gold foil sun, gifts from Jenny. Rose finds the spot that opens the sun. The pictures inside still look new, untouched by dust inside their foil case. Then there is the t-shirt.

_The Doctor gave Rose that mischievous grin she was sure he picked up from his daughter. "I brought you something," he said._

_Rose eyed __the cup of tea in his hand. "You always bring me tea," she reminded him._

_"No, besides the tea." __He handed her a small shopping bag. Inside was a white shirt with a large union jack on the front. "I saw it in a shop and I just couldn't resist."_

_"It looks just like that shirt I wore!" She laughed. He would, of course, remember Rose's London-blitz fashion fiasco._

_"Rose Tyler, the only person I know to soar through the sky branded with the British flag during the London blitz and survive."_

Rose sets the shirt aside and pulls out the last item in the box, the brown book given her by the Doctor. She wondered how she ever thought any of those stories could have been invented.

_To my pink and yellow girl, for whom I would cross a thousand universes. However far away, I will always love you._

Rose smiles and puts the other things back in the box. She takes the book with her and stretches out on the bed. She doesn't make it through the first chapter before she falls asleep.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Just the epilogue left before the end of this story and my hiatus. Don't you just love Jackie Tyler?_


	7. Epilogue: Here Comes the Sun

**Epilogue**

_**here comes the sun**_

Rose sits at the kitchen counter, a cup of tea in her hands. It feels strange to have a cup of tea and a _real_ breakfast—eggs and toast and a bit of bacon—after so many mornings running on nothing but coffee. But then, coffee isn't really Rose Tyler's cup of tea.

Something tugs on Rose's shirt; she looks down to see Jenny smiling up at her. "Good morning," Rose says, smiling.

"Morning," Jenny replies. "Are you going to come with us in the TARDIS?"

Rose nods. "I'm coming," she says, kissing the girl's forehead.

"We're going to leave soon," Jenny informs her. "I'm supposed to tell Tony. Have you seen him?"

"He's upstairs, I think," Rose says.

Jenny scurries away, leaving Rose to stare at the dregs in her cup once more. She had woken in the wee hours of the morning after troubled, confusing dreams in which she was with a man who was sometimes Noah and sometimes the Doctor. Her relationship with Noah had been her way of coping with a life she couldn't remember. Even now, she can pick out bits of her time with Noah where she made decisions that must have been influenced by a subconscious knowledge of the way things were supposed to be: the location of the wedding, Noah's status as a doctor of chemistry, a choice of restaurant on a particular date, her affection for a particular hair style of Noah's.

But that relationship is over. Rose Tyler is no longer the red and white heiress fuelled by caffeine; she is the pink and yellow human fuelled by alien cuisine and the winning smile of a mad man in a box. She could not have stayed in her busybody office-building board-of-directors life with Noah. Their year-long relationship seems paltry against her years with the Doctor.

Rose shakes herself out of her own thoughts and puts her cup in the sink before going to her parents' room to talk to her mother.

Jackie is hanging Pete's shirts in the closet, sorting by colour. Rose watches her as she moves on to the rest of the laundry: Pete's work pants, jeans, Jackie's own blouses and skirts. Jackie gives Rose no overt prompts, but her body language tells Rose she's listening.

"I'm going with them," Rose says simply.

Jackie doesn't seem surprised. She puts away the last pair of socks, smiling resignedly, and then hugs her daughter. "Be careful, Rose. And come round for dinner once in a while."

Rose nods. "I will, Mum. I promise." She blinks a few times, cursing her recent tendency for tears, and smiles. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For putting up with me the last year."

"Well, it's not _your_ fault you lost your memory, is it? Now go on. Don't want to keep them waiting." Jackie shoos Rose out of the room. Rose has to stifle a laugh at her mother's antics as she goes to her room to pick up the bags she packed that morning.

Rose rounds the corner to find that her bags have mysteriously vanished and been replaced by a skinny man in a suit. The Doctor's infectious grin spreads when he sees her. Rose grins with him before they both erupt into simultaneous, spontaneous laughter.

When they've finally sobered, the Doctor offers Rose his arm. Rose takes it, and he says "_Allons-y_!" as they walk out to the yard, the Doctor practically dragging Rose along in his excitement.

The TARDIS is hidden behind a couple of trees. The first thing that strikes Rose about this new TARDIS is its colour. The brick-red box is _not_ the blue box she is so familiar with. "It's red," she says immediately.

The Doctor nods, his goofy grin never wavering. "Yep." He tugs on her arm a little, and Rose realises she's stopped moving. She stirs her feet into gear again and walks into the TARDIS behind the Doctor.

It looks the same inside, except that the Doctor's long, brown coat isn't thrown over the pillar, and there's a small brown jacket hanging on one of the railings. A small weight attacks Rose's leg as the door clicks shut. "Rooooose!" Jenny says, mimicking the way she called Rose's name when she was much smaller.

Rose smiles and ruffles Jenny's hair. The little girl makes a face and flattens her hair down exasperatedly, one arm still wrapped around Rose's leg. "Good to see you, too," Rose says.

"I missed you," Jenny mumbles. "Are you going to stay?"

Rose puts a hand on Jenny's head—the most affection she can manage in this awkward position, since Jenny is nearly cutting off the circulation to Rose's foot—and assures her she doesn't plan on going anywhere without them any time soon.

Jenny gives Rose's leg one last squeeze. "Good." She lets go, smiles up at Rose, and then dashes off, disappearing behind a pillar.

The Doctor leans up against the console, one foot crossed over the other. "Are you ready to go?" he asks, his grin momentarily set aside.

Rose looks around the room, and then nods, smiling.

His grin returns, as wide and unrestrained as ever. He whips around, throws a few levers and hits a few switches to send them into the Vortex.

Rose walks around the console while he works. His gaze follows her until she stops across the engine from him. "So," he says, "what do you think?"

"It's _red_," Rose repeats.

Her protests dampen his smile, and he seems a little offended. "What's it matter if she's red? She's the TARDIS." He runs a hand along the console, admiring the engine column.

Rose wrinkles her nose. "She's supposed to be blue."

The Doctor shrugs. "New universe. New TARDIS. Besides," he adds, pushing off from the console and walking toward Rose, "it could be worse. She could have been something other than a police box."

Rose frowns. "It's weird."

"You'll get used to it," he tells her. "Right now, I want to show you something." He takes Rose's hand and leads her through the corridors.

"What?"

"You'll see." He leads her through the maze of corridors, past the wardrobe and the library and the swimming pool. He turns a corner and stops in the middle of an empty hallway. "I've never brought anyone here before," he says, touching the wall affectionately. "It's got a psychic lock on it; I'm the only one who can open it."

A door slides open in the wall. "What, it only opens for your mind?" Rose asks.

He blinks, affecting an appalled and offended air. "That would be totally inefficient!" He shakes his head, dropping the pretence. "No, it's just a password."

She follows him through the door, and it shuts behind them. "That doesn't seem very secure. I mean, I'm sure _someone_ could guess it."

He gives her a mischievous smirk. "Only the most special of someones." At the other end of the short hallway, an elegantly carved door slides open, and he gestures for her to enter first. "These are my quarters."

The room is a mixture of medieval and space-age decoration. Shelves line the walls, stacked with a select few books and artefacts, but largely bare. The only places without shelves are the two doors on either side of the room. There is a low table in the middle of the room, along with a sofa and two armchairs.

"Your own private study. It's very... you."

"Well, I do live here," he says, before leading her across the room. "This door," he says, gesturing to the door they're standing next to "leads to everywhere else. Every door does, actually, except that one." He points to the door they entered through.

Rose frowns, confused. "What do you mean?"

"All the doors are the same door. It opens to whichever room you're looking for."

"You've got a magic door in your room?"

"It's not a magic door," he defends. "It's a psychic command multispace portal."

Rose arches an eyebrow. "So what's on the other side of this _magic door_?" she asks, a teasing lilt in her voice.

"Whatever I want, I think. I've got a work room, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a couple of walk-in closets, along with this study. I don't know what else. Never really needed anything more." He opens the door onto a small closet full of tools and gadgets. He closes the door and opens it again—a work room. The third time he opens the door, the room beyond looks like the luxury suite of a medieval-themed hotel on a vacation planet a hundred light years away. "After you," he says, giving her a little bow of his head.

Rose walks in ahead of him, admiring the blue carpet and wall hangings. "I like it," she says. "The colour's nice."

"She did a good job, don't you think?" He smiles, looking around. "Especially considering I wasn't in much of a state to give her any directions. It's designed to resemble the previous version, the one from the other TARDIS.

Rose sits on the bed, sinking into the thick comforter. "It's wonderful."

"She kept your room, too," he adds, sitting next to her. "It doesn't have any of your things in it. Just the décor."

"Am I going to need it?" she asks.

"Well, I thought you might—after yesterday and everything—you might want your own space for a while."

Rose bites her lip. She'd been doing so well at ignoring the _and everything_. "No," she says before she has a chance to think too much and change her mind. "I mean, if you want me to stay there, I will. I know this is your space, but—"

"Rose," he interjects. "You can stay wherever you like."

"Even in your top secret genius lair?" she teases.

He nods, clearly feeling the need to add something.

"I can't read your mind," Rose says impatiently.

He hesitates, then says cautiously, "I can't tell you the password."

"You'll let me stay here but you can't tell me how to get in?" It doesn't seem to add up. Rose is certain there's a further explanation. "Why can't you tell me the password?"

"Yet," he qualifies. "I can't tell you the password _yet_."

Rose nods slowly, but she's still not getting it. "Right. Doctor, this isn't making much sense to me. Have I got to win some contest or something first?"

He laughs. "Oh, Rose. You've already won the contest. It's more a matter of claiming the prize." He gives her a look that says _we both know what I'm talking about_.

Rose sighs impatiently; she has no idea what he's talking about. "Are you going to talk circles around it all day?"

He studies her intently for half a minute, his face betraying no clear emotion. "My name," he says finally. "My _true_ name."

The puzzle falls together. It's perfect, really, the way he's made his chambers a fortress with a single key that cannot simply be plucked off a key ring. "It's brilliant," she remarks. She knows what he means about "claiming the prize": she's won his heart—and he hers—but he can only tell her his name if they are married by a Time Lord handfasting.

"Is it?" he asks, unsure if she understands yet.

"I think so," Rose says, smiling. "The key to the master suite, held only by the master and his mistress. Poetic, in a way."

He is getting no clear message from her. "So," he prompts.

"_So_," she repeats, leaning into him, "I think we've put it off long enough, don't you?"

He grins and kisses her forehead. "Rose Tyler," he says affectionately, her name a term of endearment more powerful than any pet name.

"My Doctor." She smiles and kisses him tenderly before getting up and tugging on his hand. He follows her to the door; it opens onto the study. They make their way back to the console room, where Jenny sits on the jumpseat, toying with a small, round gadget.

Jenny looks up when Rose comes in. She doesn't say anything, just gives Rose a smile and watches as the Doctor pilots the TARDIS. The little girl makes a face as the Doctor lands the ship, clearly displeased with his techniques.

"Here we are," the Doctor announces.

Jenny hops down from the jump seat and sets the gadget on the console. Rose walks out the front doors, and the Doctor follows. As he passes Jenny, her expression changes dramatically, and her eyes flash with annoyance. She follows him out, and he figures he should probably teach her the proper way to fly the TARDIS, but he doesn't dwell on that for long. He has a handfasting to complete.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Well, that's all for now (sorry about the obscenely long wait; at least I came through with the promised epilogue). I'll be back in a few weeks or possibly months. I hope you've all enjoyed the journey. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing and adding things to your alerts._

_Lots of hugs and scones and fuzzy socks to my beta, EnoughToTemptMe for her amazing help. I wouldn't be half as good a writer without her. Actually, I'd be worthless without her._


End file.
